Helmets for contact sports, such as those used in football, hockey and lacrosse, typically include a chin protector that removably secures the helmet on the wearer's head. Chin protectors include a central portion, such as a protective cup, that engages the wearer's chin and at least one elongated strap member extending outward from each side of the cup. Conventional chin protectors are detachable from the helmet to allow for easy removal of the helmet, and for maintenance of the chin strap itself. Typically, a two-piece snap connector is used to connect each end of the chin strap to the helmet. The two-piece snap connector includes a male or stem portion of the snap that is affixed to and extends outward from the helmet, and a female or cap portion of the snap that is affixed via a buckle to the elongated strap member. An extent of the strap member is fed through the buckle and the cap is mounted to a central portion of the buckle. One conventional chin protector includes a pair of elongated strap members extending outward from opposed sides of the central cup, wherein each strap member bears a female portion of the snap. Each side of the helmet includes a pair of male snap portions, wherein each male snap portion mates with a female snap portion of the chin strap for securement of the helmet on the wearer's head. An example of an existing chin strap for a sports helmet is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,932 to Kraemer.
Some modern sports helmets position a first male snap or stem at a mid-height of the shell near the shell's frontal opening and a second stem along a lower edge of the shell. Thus, the helmet includes a stem at each upper end of the frontal opening and a stem along the lower shell edge of each ear flap. While such conventional chin straps provide some benefits, they nevertheless have certain limitations. For example, opposing players may strike the buckle during the course of play, where repeated striking may damage the buckle and/or disengage the buckle and cap from the stem. The present invention is provided to solve these limitations and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by conventional chin strap connectors used with sports helmets. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.